Effect of process parameters on properties of argon–nitrogen plasma for titanium nitride film deposition

Abstract

In this study, the effect of working pressure and input power on the physical properties and sputtering efficiencies of argon–nitrogen (Ar/N2) plasma in direct current magnetron discharge is investigated. The discharge in Ar/N2 is used to deposit TiN films on high speed steel substrate. The physical plasma parameters are determined by using Langmuir probe and optical emission spectroscopy. On the basis of the different reactions in the gas phase, the variation of plasma parameters and sputtering rate are explained. A prominent change of electron temperature, electron density, ion density, and degree of ionization of Ar is found as a function of working pressure and input power. The results also show that increasing working pressure exerts a negative effect on film deposition rate while increasing input power has a positive impact on the same. To confirm the observed physical properties and evaluate the texture growth as a function of deposition parameters, x-ray diffraction study of deposited TiN films is also done.